VN-Index extends gains with surging trade value

The index stayed in the green throughout the day and closed at 1,503.78 points, the first time it crossed the 1,500 points threshold since March 4.

Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, rose nearly 18 percent to VN28.49 trillion ($1.25 billion).

The VN30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 22 tickers in the green, led by STB of Ho Chi Minh City-based lender Sacombank with 2.9 percent gain to the highest in five weeks.

MSN of conglomerate Masan Group rose 2.4 percent, and NVL of real estate giant Novaland gained 2.1 percent.

Other gainers included POW of Petrovietnam Power, up 1.9 percent, and TPB of private lender TPBank and VIC of biggest conglomerate Vingroup, both up 1.5 percent.

Four blue chip tickers bucked the trend, with VJC of budget airline Vietjet closing 1.7 percent lower.

VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk anh KDH of housing developer Khang Dien both dropped 0.9 percent.

Foreign investors were net buyers for the second session in a row to the tune of VND537 billion.

They continued to focus on STB and GEX of electrical equipment maker Gelex Group.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, rose 0.67 percent while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market gained 0.53 percent.